The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (2024)

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by Garlic Girl 17 Comments

You will never need another brownie recipe after this one.

I won’t even distract you with any other words in this postso the main point doesn’t get lost. And the main point is that you’ve got to try this brownie recipe!

If you love rich, gooey, chewy and chocolaty brownies – the kind that make milk a necessity – thisis the brownie recipe for you. You do not need to add thepeanut butter mixture, but I think it was a reallyyummy addition to an already perfect brownie. This original recipe appears to be a Julia Child recipe, but it seems to have been revised from where I found it. And then I made more adaptations. I’d love to think it started with her, so I’ll just call it Julia Child’s Amazing Brownie Recipe.

Enjoy!

The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (2)

Print Recipe

Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe

Servings: 12

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 8 ounces unsalted butter
  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate coarsely chopped
  • 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped (Iused chocolate chips)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 4 large eggs room temperature

Optional Peanut Butter Filling

  • 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter room temperature

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 350°.

  • Sift flour and salt together; set aside.

  • *Optional step for peanut butter filling: With electric mixer, beat peanut butter, powdered sugar, and butter until very creamy, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

  • To make the brownies, melt chocolate with butter in double boiler, stirring frequently. Alternatively, you can melt in microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between. After dissolving, add 1 cup of the sugar to the mixture; stir to blend. Add vanilla and stir.

  • Pour the mixture into a large bowl.

  • In stand mixing bowl whisk together the remaining cup of sugar and the eggs until just combined.

  • Little by little, pour half of the sugar and eggs into the chocolate mixture, stirring gently but constantly with a rubber spatula so that the eggs don't set from the heat.

  • Using whisk attachment, whip the remaining sugar and eggs until they are thick, pale, and doubled in volume, about 3-4 minutes.

  • Using rubber spatula, delicately fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture.

  • When the eggs are almost completely incorporated, gently fold in the dry ingredients.

  • Pour and scrape the batter in to an unbuttered 9-inch square pan. Note: I sprayed with a little baking spray just to make sure they didn't stick.

  • *Optional step: drop teaspoonfuls of peanut mixture on top of the batter and throughout the pan.

  • Bake the brownies for a minimum of 45 minutes, during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry.

  • Cut into the center at about the 30-minute mark to see how the brownies are progressing: they are perfect when they are just barely set and still a little gooey. Note: Some people like them a little less gooey. If so, bake an extra few minutes.

  • Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack.

  • Optional: sprinkle with powdered sugar.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (3)Kimberly Vaswani

    Hi,

    Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I have spent the last week trying to recreate the taste of a brownie that I made in 1996, and I have baked 6 brownie recipes since Sunday. I was beginning to become rather discouraged, but then I saw your recipe today I had a sense of hope, 1) from the beautiful picture and 2) it was Julia Child’s recipe. The brownies are so wonderful, they leave you speechless. When I fed it to my husband I said, “Your going to need a minute after you take a bite.” Food should always taste this good! I am so happy to finally have the recipe for the perfect brownie, at least in my opinion. And this time I won’t lose it. Thanks for all the work you put into your blog and for posting recipes worth posting!!

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (4)Garlic Girl

      What a sweet comment! I am so glad you enjoyed it!!

      Reply

  2. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (5)Angie K

    These were fantastic but 22-26 minutes wasn’t nearly enough time in the oven. I had to bake mine for about 50 minutes just to get them to set. Just fyi for anyone else trying this recipe.

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (7)Garlic Girl

      Hi Jessica,
      I’ve heard equal enthusiasm for both versions! 🙂
      Jodi

      Reply

  3. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (8)Brenda

    Am I reading this correctly? Pour the brownie batter in a 9″ pan and then drop teaspoons of peanut butter mixture on top of that?

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (9)Garlic Girl

      That’s correct!

      Reply

  4. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (10)Merilee

    I don’t have a whisk attachment for my mixer. Should I whisk by hand or whip with my mixer.

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (11)Garlic Girl

      Hi there – I would use an electric mixer. Of course if you don’t have one, then beat by hand with whisk. Enjoy!

      Reply

  5. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (12)Anonymous

    What can be substituted for eggs?

    Reply

  6. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (14)Stefanie

    Good evening. Found your blog post via Pinterest. Would I be able to substitute the peanut butter with another? My youngest is allergic to peanuts. Thank you.

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (15)Garlic Girl

      Hi there! I’ve made these without PB more than with. So I’d recommend just leaving it out. 😊
      GG

      Reply

  7. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (16)Becca

    These were absolutely the best brownies I’ve ever had!! I’ve been “perfecting” my own recipe for years. Whipping the egg mixture adds so much to the recipe. I made the brownies about 7 hours ago and my boys have eaten every last one of them!!

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (17)Garlic Girl

      Oh yay! So glad you love them too! I need to make them again soon!

      Reply

  8. The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (18)Dolly N.

    I just deleted all my other brownie recipes. Due to time and ingredient constraints, I used all 85% chocolate and used the one-bowl method (no beating the eggs separately. The brownies were glorious. This is the only brownie recipe for me! I am looking forward to trying the peanut butter version next.) Thank you.

    Reply

    • The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (19)Garlic Girl

      Yessss! Now I need to make them again! 😊

      Reply

Leave a Reply

The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

The best brownies: Julia Child's Amazing Brownie Recipe? ›

The brownies are made with unsweetened chocolate, which is also known as baking, plain or bitter chocolate. It is chocolate in its rawest form and this means that unsweetened chocolate is just ground cocoa nibs that have been refined and contain between 50-55% cocoa butter (cacao fat).

What are Katharine Hepburn brownies? ›

The brownies are made with unsweetened chocolate, which is also known as baking, plain or bitter chocolate. It is chocolate in its rawest form and this means that unsweetened chocolate is just ground cocoa nibs that have been refined and contain between 50-55% cocoa butter (cacao fat).

What can I add to brownie mix to make it taste better? ›

Six Sneaky Ways To Make Brownie Mix Taste Homemade
  1. Use melted butter instead of oil.
  2. Use milk, flavored creamers, or brewed coffee instead of water.
  3. Add extracts or flavorings.
  4. Add mix-ins like cookies and candies.
  5. Underbake, just slightly.
  6. Toppings.
  7. My Favorite Mix-Ins and Toppings.
Jan 19, 2021

What are the three types of brownies? ›

Brownie textures fall into three general camps… Cakey, fudgy and chewy. Cakey brownies, like the name implies, are light, moist and airy, with a slightly fluffy, cake-like interior. Fudgy brownies are moist, dense and gooey, with almost the texture of fudge, but not quite as compact.

How to enhance chocolate flavor in brownies? ›

Adding coffee to your brownies boosts their flavor because its bitter quality balances out sweetness, making it less overpowering. It allows that delicious chocolate flavor to really shine. You can also switch out the water called for in the batter with brewed coffee.

Why are they called blonde brownies? ›

They're called blondies because they lack the brown cocoa powder of brownies. They're blonde with vanilla and brown sugar, not brown.

What is a Little Debbie brownie? ›

Chewy 4 oz. chocolatey brownie topped with a chocolatey frosting and color candy coated chocolate pieces. The Little Debbie® Vending Cosmic Brownie is a chewy 4 oz brownie topped with chocolatey icing then sprinkled with colorful candy-coated pieces to make it simply out of this world!

How to jazz up boxed brownies? ›

Salt + Chocolate = BFFs

This is the easiest way to upgrade boxed brownies. Salt enhances the natural flavors and sweetness in chocolate and suppresses its bitterness. Sprinkle a few pinches of flaky salt on top of the brownie batter before baking.

What does adding an extra egg to brownie mix do? ›

If you want to get a little more creative with your brownie mix hacks, add an extra egg to the batter. The extra protein will help thicken up the batter and make it fluffier, creating a more decadent, fudgy texture. You can also add the yolk by itself in addition to the 2 eggs a box brownie mix typically calls for.

Should you chill brownie mix before baking? ›

Recently, as I was reading through the comments on all our brownie recipes, one suggestion in particular stood out: Refrigerate the batter overnight for a richer, chewier brownie.

What makes brownies fudgy vs cakey? ›

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakey ones. So add more fat—in this case, butter and chocolate. A cakey batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening. The amount of sugar and eggs does not change whether you're going fudgy or cakey.

What is the old version of brownies? ›

Did you know that Brownies were originally called 'Rosebuds'? Rosebuds was established in 1914 for girls to join before they became Guides. Just one year later, the name was changed to Brownies. Brownies are the second-youngest members of the Girlguiding family, for girls aged between 7 and 10.

What are the sixes in brownies? ›

A Brownie Pack was divided into groups of six girls called a Six. Each Six was called after 'little people' such as Elf, Imp, Sprite or Gnome. A brown wool beret was introduced for Brownies in 1950 and stockings were changed to socks.

Why are brownie fairies called brownies? ›

They received their name from the fact that they are usually described as brown-skinned and completely covered in hair. In the earliest traditions, brownies are either the same size as humans or sometimes larger, but, in later accounts, they are described as "small, wizened, and shaggy".

What is in brownies on the moon? ›

Description. The most delicious brownies are combined with premium high-quality chocolate cream and vanilla ice cream to give you an experience that is out of this world!

Why are they called brownies? ›

Their name comes from the story "The Brownies" by Juliana Horatia Ewing, written in 1870. In the story two children, Tommy and Betty, learn that children can be helpful brownies instead of being lazy boggarts.

What is so special about brownies? ›

Fudgy brownies are dense, gooey and moist. They have a fudge-like texture while chewy brownies are dense and have an elastic texture that makes them easy to chew. Brownies are always more likeable than cakes and even cookies.

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